Learning orchestra music ...

May 26, 2012 at 09:00 PM · Isolate the hard parts in your orchestra music and work them out early -- with your teacher's guidance. Don't ignore the less-difficult sections, but don't dwell on them.

If you already have all three scores in your mind's ear, this can help a lot -- especially with how your part fits into the whole fabric. Still, don't use this as a crutch. Count carefully and stay on beat; be especially alert to where the downbeat of each measure is.

In orchestra, as I've said previously, you're not responsible for all the notes. Of course, you have to know the material and try to nail as many notes as you can -- cleanly and in good form. The finale of the Beethoven comes to mind here. The note here and there that you don't play -- well, the odds are that your desk partner will play them. The audience should be none the wiser.

May 27, 2012 at 02:05 PM · Not just the "hard" parts, but the EXPOSED parts! Listening to recordings with your parts on hand should let you know where the bits are that absolutely have to be perfect. Use them as etudes (they are generally either fast or tricky enough for that).

If your parts are bowed for you--great. If not, don't let the bowings become too written-in-stone; quite often section leaders will change them, and you won't want that to throw you.

RHYTHM is much more important, really, than notes' accuracy. As a pp says, you don't "have" to get all the notes, but if you aren't spot on rhythmically, you will make problems for the section...it's the heartbeat of music, always, and you don't want to be the irregular hearbeat.

May 27, 2012 at 02:16 PM · Marjory's point is crucial. When I did Rusty Musicians with the Baltimore Symphony, I had my teacher show me in the music where I was most exposed -- the parts I really needed to master -- and where I would be drowned out or was doing very fast runs and could fake it. That worked very well. Good luck!

May 27, 2012 at 08:44 PM · I find that listening to orchestra music that I have to learn (and don't know well already) helps me to practice more efficiently, since I know how parts are supposed to sound. It helps to read the score, or even just your part, as you listen once or twice to see/hear how you part fits in with the rest, and to hear if there are any parts where your section is especially exposed. Then, just listen to the pieces as often as possible (when you're driving, etc) to get them in your head.

May 30, 2012 at 04:48 AM · First of all, I have to say that is an awesome set of repertoire to be working on. Hebrides is one of my favorites, so is Beethoven's 7th. Secondly, I agree with the previous posts. For most of the music, you'll be able sightread it however, isolating the problem areas would be the most effective way to practice it. I know in the Hebrides Overture, there are ALOT of areas where the strings and specifically the violins are exposed. The same with both 1st and the 4th movement of the Beethoven. There are a lot of fast moving passages that are also played unison, some of which in the high octaves. I'd work on fingerings for any 16th note runs. Don't over practice though, there's no need to play the entire piece everyday until the performance, that takes the fun out of playing with the group. Have fun with it. Those are some pretty fun pieces. Do you play 1st violin or 2nd?

May 30, 2012 at 05:32 AM · My prep process goes something like this:

1. Do initial run through, marking all needed bowings and fingerings, and bracketing all tough spots - tricky rhythms, shifts, or bowings, strange accidental patterns/modulations, quick dynamic changes, etc.

2. Using a metronome from the very beginning, even if set slow, isolate the tough spots (as many have already recommended), and get them up to speed.

3. Start running entire pieces with metronome, focusing on stylistic elements as much as possible given time restraints, but above all else making sure you'll be in tune and in time with the orchestra.

I find that practicing both tough spots and entire movements or pieces "round robin" style is helpful for getting pieces up to par quickly. Once you do your preliminary work (#1 above) practice each selection for only a couple minutes then move on to the next regardless of whether or not you've mastered it. Once you finish all the spots or pieces you need to work on, go back to the first selection and go through them all again. Rinse and repeat. This gives the brain no time to disengage. These short chunks of high intensity practice keep it open to taking in information and keeps re-stimulating the connections you're making, physically and mentally, so it gets the message that it really needs to remember what you're working on. This type of focused repetition is key, I've found, for fast learning.

Congrats and good luck!

May 30, 2012 at 01:27 PM · Tagging on to the idea of using the metronome...make sure you hit the parts in many frequent spurts.

The more times you repeat it or revisit the sections in a day, the faster you'll learn.

For example, you have 15 minutes to practice. Pick one or two sections, work them up a few notches on the metronome. Write down the bpm where you left off either on a list next to your music or above the passage itself. Continue to whatever else you need to do. A couple hours later, you have another chunk of time. Revisit and work up those passages (and perhaps others) a little bit more.

Don't feel like each time you practice a passage, you must get that one passage up to speed. Leave some digestion time in between, just make sure you revisit frequently!

Also...listen listen listen!! Once it's in your ear, it will fall with the fingers much more easily.

June 2, 2012 at 11:51 PM · If you haven't played in an orchestra before, the notes are the least of the problems! You have to fit with the others in your section and keep an eye on the leader (or your section leader if 2nd) and make sure you're using the same amount of bow and in the same part of the bow. As others have said - rhythm! It's no good playing all the notes if they're in the wrong place. And watch out for note lengths - the Beethoven 1st movement rhythm keeps changing - sometimes there's a rest, sometimes there isn't and it's deliberate. Dynamics (especially in the Clarinet concerto - the slow movement has to drop to a whisper). Don't worry about making a "nice" sound. That nebulous unfocussed sound with one hair of the bow sounds silly when you play on your own, but can be magical if there are 12 of you playing it.

Don't want to make it sound scary - it's not. In fact, playing in an orchestra can be about the most fun you can have in public without risking arrest. Just be alert to what's happening around you.

June 3, 2012 at 05:17 AM · I looked up the parts to refresh my memory and can give you some notes. In Mendelssohn and Beethoven, you will be dealing with a lot of repetitive patterns. This should make your life easier if you identify them quickly.

Hebrides is a wonderful piece, but I would definitely not waste much time practicing everything in it. Three quarters of the work can be done in your brain before even picking up the instrument. Spots to really watch are the F minor section at letter D; 3 m. before letter F (the temptation will be to continue playing 16th notes); 'Animato' before G you will just want to glue one eye to the conductor for the pickup and the other eye to your section leader. If you must err, err on the side of playing too softly; you can always get louder. Know when you have the melody or an important countermelody.

Beethoven, opening: be very precise with the rhythm...16th notes must not rush. They look faster than they are. In fact, one must exercise great discipline in the whole first page. After this your life will actually get easier, although it doesn't look like it.

M. 88 is another place to glue your eyeballs to your leaders.

Beethoven is known for extremes of dynamic, so bring it out -- do what he tells you.

The rhythm at letter F is tricky. Even for a pro. Work on it with a metronome.

10 m after H is a place where everyone will really sound bad if rhythm is sloppy.

2nd movement: practice the melody at C so that it does not lose direction or intensity.

At D, you are accompaniment; this part makes the most sense if you hear the clarinet line, in real life or in your mind, as you play it.

E is tricky. Here you will need great rhythmic discipline again. It is too easy to rush or come in at the wrong spot.

3rd movement, Presto: ain't nothing I can say that will make this easy. In the quick part, use a fast (but light) stroke and don't forget to vibrate to avoid having your tone become "crunchy." In the trio it is just the opposite -- save bow on the long notes and stay out of the way of the horns until you have moving notes or crescendo.

4th movement: the only thing I find particularly difficult about this movement is not getting tired. It's hard not to throw yourself into it with gusto, but try to be economical in your motions; don't go too crazy.

With the Mozart, unfortunately I'd practice everything. I've been burned too many times by stuff that looks deceptively easy; Mozart is a devil like that. He is particularly wicked to his second violins a lot of the time.

There are some odd conventions in notating orchestral music that don't often appear elsewhere in violin music, so if you don't know the meaning of something, don't hesitate to ask someone experienced.

Mainly, you will want to listen to what's going on around you as much as possible (or if you can't hear, watch for your section leader's bow) and blend, blend, blend.

Good luck!

June 3, 2012 at 05:23 AM · I couldn't agree more with Malcolm. It is sad and kind of annoying when a player only has a very opaque tone in his or her bag of tricks. One can tell on stage when the strings just can't get quiet enough because people are overly concerned about being able to hear themselves, and a potentially spine-tingling effect does not come off.